Branches of Unitarianism denomination belief

The unitarians believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ as found in the New Testament and other early
Christian writings. Adhering to strict monotheism, they maintain that Jesus was a great man and a
prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself. They believe Jesus did not
claim to be God, nor did his teachings hint at the existence of a triune God. These unitarians believe in
the moral authority, but not necessarily the divinity, of Jesus. Their theology is thus distinguishable from
the theology of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, mainline Protestant, Pentecostal and other
Christian denominations which hold the Trinity doctrine as a core belief.
With regard to Unitarianism proper (the liberal variety), there are common traits to be found, apart from
the rejection of the Trinity doctrine. Although there is no specific authority on these convictions, the
following represent the most generally accepted:

● the belief in One God and the oneness or unity of God.

● the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as the exemplar model for living one's own life.
● that reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
● that man has the ability to exercise free will in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with
the assistance of religion.
● the belief that human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved
(see Original Sin), but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
● the conviction that no religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or theological
truth.
● the belief that, though the authors of the Bible were inspired by God, they were humans and
therefore subject to human error.
● the rejection of traditional doctrines that they believe malign God's character or veil the true
nature and mission of Jesus Christ, such as the doctrines of predestination, eternal damnation,
and the vicarious sacrifice or satisfaction theory of the Atonement.

Unitarians sum up their faith as "the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus."

Unitarians believe that mainline Christianity does not adhere to strict monotheism, but that Unitarians do
by maintaining that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but
not God himself. They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest the
existence of a triune God. Unitarians believe in the moral authority but not necessarily the divinity of
Jesus. Their theology is thus opposed to the trinitarian theology of other Christian denominations.
Unitarian Christology can be divided according to whether or not Jesus is believed to have had a pre-
human existence. Both forms maintain that God is one being and one "person" and that Jesus is the (or
a) Son of God, but generally not God himself.
In the early 19th century, Unitarian Robert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian
doctrines in history:

● Arian, which believed in a pre-existence of the Logos, but maintained that Jesus was created and
lived as human only;
○ In America, most of the early Unitarians were "Arian" in Christology (see below), but
among those who held to a "Socinian" view was James Freeman.
The Christology commonly called "Arian" holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed
as the Logos, or the Word, a being created by God, who dwelt with God in heaven. There are many
varieties of this form of Unitarianism, ranging from the belief that the Son was a divine spirit of the same
nature as God before coming to earth, to the belief that he was an angel or other lesser spirit creature of a
wholly different nature from God. Not all of these views necessarily were held by Arius, the namesake of
this Christology. It is still Nontrinitarian because, according to this belief system, Jesus has always been
beneath God, though higher than humans. Arian Christology was not a majority view among Unitarians in
Poland, Transylvania or England. It was only with the advent of American Unitarianism that it gained a
foothold in the Unitarian movement.

● Socinian, which denied his original divinity, but agreed that Christ should be worshipped;
○ They also believed that Christ pre-existed in some form though others such as
Theodotus of Byzantium, Artemon] and Paul of Samosata denied the pre-existence of
Christ.
○

● "Strict Unitarian", which, believing in an "incommunicable divinity of God", denied both the
existence of the Holy Spirit and the worship of "the man Christ.
○ John Biddle (1615–62), an English Socinian, whose knowledge of the Greek text of
the New Testament convinced him that the doctrine of the Trinity was not of
scriptural origin, published his Unitarian convictions in Twelve Arguments Drawn out
of Scripture… (1647)
○

Unitarianism is considered a factor in the decline of classical deism because there were people who
increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists.

● Conservative Unitarian theology accommodates a wide range of understandings of God.

● Radical Unitarian theology further rejects the importance of dogma, liturgy, and anything other
than ethics and a gospel of love.

Several tenets of Unitarianism overlap with the predominant Muslim view of Jesus and Islamic
understanding of monotheism.

Fausto Sozzini was an Italian theologian who helped define Unitarianism and also served the Polish Brethren
church

The Christology commonly called "Socinian" (after Fausto Sozzini, one of the founders of Unitarian
theology) refers to the belief that Jesus Christ began his life when he was born as a human. In other
words, the teaching that Jesus pre-existed his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging
from the belief that Jesus was simply a human (psilanthropism) who, because of his greatness, was
adopted by God as his Son (adoptionism) to the belief that Jesus literally became the son of God when he
was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Their statement of faith:

We believe in one God, one Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit
 - Joshua de Sagun, MC

General description of unitarianism

What is Biblical Unitarianism?

Biblical Unitarianism, contrary to its name, is not biblical. The problem is their false view of
the nature God and the person of Christ. Biblical Unitarians differ from other Unitarians
(such as Universal Unitarians) in their claim that the Bible is the source of truth—a doctrine
that Universalists deny. The term Biblical Unitarianism can be traced back to the 1880s as
distinctions were being made between Unitarians who held to biblical inspiration and those
who did not. Biblical Unitarianism represents the more “conservative” branch of
Unitarianism, since it has not jettisoned the Bible as a source of truth.

Many beliefs of Biblical Unitarians are in keeping with orthodox Christian beliefs. However,
they depart from orthodoxy on one major point in regards to their doctrine of God. Biblical
Unitarians deny the Trinity, teaching that God is one being (hence the word Unitarian in
their name). Jesus, according to Biblical Unitarianism, is not the eternal Son of God; rather,
He was created by God in the womb of Mary. Jesus was later exalted by God and given
authority over creation, making Him like God, but He remains a finite, separate being with a
beginning.

In denying the Trinity, Biblical Unitarians also have a false view of the Holy Spirit, whom
they consider to be identical to the Father. Since God is “holy” and also a “spirit,” they
reason, “Holy Spirit” is simply another name for God the Father.

Biblical Unitarian views of God are unbiblical because Scripture clearly teaches that the Son
of God existed prior to all creation (John 1:1–5), that Jesus is truly God (Titus 2:13), and
that the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father (Matthew 28:19).

Denominations that fall under the category of Biblical Unitarianism include the Church of
God General Conference (CoGGC) and the Christadelphians.

- Mark Ferrando, MC